Koinonia: Moving from Information to Intimacy with the Holy Spirit

You have surely already heard the word koinonia. Maybe you even know the definition: "communion," "fellowship," "partnership." It is a Greek word, you find it right next to "communion" in the dictionary, and it appears in Paul's writing when he closes his second letter to the Corinthians: "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Corinthians 13:14). The word translated here as "fellowship" is koinonia.

But the real question is not whether you can give the definition. The real question is this: are you, today, living out this fellowship with the Holy Spirit? Can you stand up and honestly say, "Yes, I am there"? This teaching from Pastor Renathe YAO, preached on April 15, 2026 during the "7 to 9" service at ICC Montreal, wants to pull you out of head knowledge that stays in your mind and bring you into the intimacy that transforms your life.

Outline of the teaching

1. The three levels of knowing the Holy Spirit

There are three ways of knowing someone. The first level is knowledge by information: you have heard of the person, but you have never interacted with them. It is like saying you know Celine Dion because you know she is a singer and she is performing soon in Paris. The second level is knowledge by interaction: you meet the person, you talk with them, you ask them questions. The third level is knowledge in intimacy, the kind of knowledge you discover in a marriage, when two people know each other deeply, in the way they think, judge, and react.

When the Bible speaks of koinonia with the Holy Spirit, it is aiming at the third level. Not just knowing that he exists. Not just exchanging a few words with him. Knowing him in intimacy.

2. The deadly trap of information

Many Christians have stopped at level one. They have information about the Holy Spirit. They can quote you John 14, John 15, a few passages from John 16. They have taken a course, listened to a series of teachings. And they believe that is enough to say they know him.

The enemy fights hard to keep you exactly at that level. Why? Because knowledge that is not lived out puffs up. "Knowledge puffs up," says the Word (1 Corinthians 8:1), and "God opposes the proud" (James 4:6). If you have the information without the relationship, you become your own trap. You do not even need a demon to come fight you anymore: your own pride is enough. You are convinced you already know, so God can no longer teach you. And by staying only in your head, you eventually start to doubt: "If God really exists, why is there so much evil? Did Jesus really come?" Information that has never come down into the heart eventually produces doubts that shake your faith.

3. The image of fire: contact, contamination, fullness

Take a twig and put it into a blazing fire: it catches flame. Pull it out of the fire and leave it alone: it slowly dies out. For it to keep burning, someone has to either blow on it or put it back into the fire.

It works exactly the same way with the Holy Spirit. Staying in a spiritual family where people pray puts you in contact with the fire. You get "contaminated" by others. But that is not enough. You yourself need to become a carrier of the fire, by actively cultivating his presence, by blowing on the flame. Otherwise, what you received dies out.

4. Dependence as the fruit of intimacy

Pastor Renathe uses a strong image, borrowed from the painful reality of abused women: some men know so well how to make their wife dependent on them that, even as she is dying inside that home, she does not know how to leave. She no longer knows how to function without him. That is a negative example, he says, but turn it around: picture that same dependence, this time toward the One who wants only good for you.

When you develop intimacy with the Holy Spirit who moves you forward, who guides you, who tells you "go left, go right," you end up no longer knowing how to function without him. You can say in truth: "I only have Jesus. If you take him away from me, I have nothing left." Jesus himself lives in that perfect dependence: "The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing" (John 5:19). He looks at the cup of Gethsemane and says, "Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done" (Luke 22:42), because he knows, from his fellowship with the Father, that the Father can never ask him for something that would work against him.

5. Jesus' order: do not move before you are filled

Jesus had given his disciples his name. They had gone out two by two, they had cast out demons, healed the sick, walked in works of great power. They had come back amazed: "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name" (Luke 10:17). And yet, before the Ascension, Jesus tells them: "Do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4). In other words: do not start this work again until the koinonia has been cultivated. Otherwise, your fruit will not last.

120 people waited in the upper room. Their fruit has reached all the way to us. Without that time of intimacy, the church would not have held together.

6. Shooting star, dead star, shining star

There are three kinds of stars. The shooting star is not really a star at all: it is a meteor that passes by and disappears. The dead star is one that has died, but whose light is still traveling toward the earth: people think it is still shining, even though it has already gone out at the source. The shining star is the one that is genuinely still connected to its source.

Many Christians today shine with a light that has already left their heart. You can see fruit coming out, but behind it the source has gone out, because intimacy with the Holy Spirit was never maintained. Your only chance to be a shining star is to stay permanently connected to your source: the Holy Spirit.

7. Presence produces what words cannot

Look at Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). Jesus lifts his eyes and simply says, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today." Jesus preached no sermon. He simply walked into the house. And there, without anyone asking him to, Zacchaeus stands up on his own and declares, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold." Presence was enough. The atmosphere of fellowship produced repentance.

The same thing happens on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). The disciples are talking with Jesus without recognizing him. It is only at the table, when he breaks bread with them, in the intimacy of the meal, that their eyes are opened. And afterward they say, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road?" When you enter into intimacy, things happen inside you that you did not even ask for. Presence creates an atmosphere of transformation.

8. Your thirst decides what will fill you

"If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink" (John 7:37-38). This is not some optional accessory of the Christian life. What you thirst for is what fills you. If you thirst for healing, you will invest your time into healing. If you thirst for money, you will be filled with that. If you thirst for the Holy Spirit himself, then rivers of living water will flow out from within you.

If you are not actively seeking intimacy with the Holy Spirit, somewhere your thirst has been redirected. The enemy has invested it elsewhere. It is time to reawaken it.

Key takeaways

• Koinonia is not a definition to memorize, it is an intimacy to live out with the Holy Spirit.
• Staying at the level of information about the Holy Spirit is a trap: it puffs up without transforming, and God opposes the proud.
• A flame that is no longer fed goes out. Intimacy is cultivated actively, day after day.
• True knowledge of God produces a healthy dependence: "I no longer know how to function without him."
• Do not go into battle without first being filled. Like the 120 in the upper room, wait for the promise before you act.

Personal application

• Honestly, at which level are you today with the Holy Spirit: information, interaction, or intimacy?
• Is there an area of your life where you operate purely on your own understanding, without consulting the Spirit?
• What is your deepest thirst today? Is it really him, or has something else taken his place?
• Concretely, this week, what will you do to "blow on the flame" and cultivate his presence?
• Who can you share your desire to go further into intimacy with, so you do not stay alone in this fight?

Verses cited

• 2 Corinthians 13:14 · The fellowship of the Holy Spirit with all of us.
• John 5:19 · The Son does only what he sees the Father doing.
• Luke 22:42 · "Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done."
• Acts 1:4 · Waiting for the Father's promise before acting.
• Acts 19:1-6 · The disciples who did not even know there was a Holy Spirit.
• Luke 19:1-10 · Zacchaeus transformed by the presence of Jesus.
• Luke 24:13-35 · The disciples on the road to Emmaus: "Did not our hearts burn within us?"
• John 7:37-38 · "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me."
• Philippians 4:13 · "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."
• 1 Corinthians 8:1 · "Knowledge puffs up."
• James 4:6 · "God opposes the proud."
• Psalm 23:3 · "He restores my soul."

Frequently asked questions

What exactly is koinonia?

Koinonia is a Greek word translated as "fellowship," "communion," or "partnership." In the New Testament, it describes the relationship of deep, shared intimacy with the Holy Spirit and among brothers and sisters (2 Corinthians 13:14). It is not just a concept: it is a living experience of sharing life with the person of the Holy Spirit.

How do I know at which level I am with the Holy Spirit?

Ask yourself three honest questions: do I know the Holy Spirit only from what I have been told about him (level 1: information)? Have I already had some real interactions with him, like with someone I regularly cross paths with (level 2)? Or am I living with him a daily relationship of intimacy, to the point that I no longer know how to function without him (level 3)? If you cannot place yourself, that is already a sign there is work ahead of you.

Concretely, how do I cultivate intimacy with the Holy Spirit?

Truly make room for him in your day: take time for his presence, not just time to ask for things. Stay in a spiritual family where people pray, like the twig that gets put back into the fire. Cultivate your thirst: John 7:37-38 promises rivers to whoever thirsts. And let the Word move down from your head into your heart, by living it out and not only by holding onto it.